Among the most magnificent historical houses of worship is thePantheon.
Scroll on for nine fascinating facts about the history of Rome’s ancient Pantheon church.
The exact date of origin of the Pantheon has confused scholars.
Photo:Stock Photosfrom PHANT/Shutterstock
It is now known the Pantheon was dedicated around 126 CE.
However, the architect and exact dates of construction are unclear.
Augustus and Agrippa both engaged in many building projects to transform Rome at the end of the Republican period.
Left: Roman Emperor Hadrian (ruled 117-138 CE) (Photo: Livioandronico2013 viaWikimedia Commons,CC BY-SA 4.0)Right: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, military leader and son-in-law to Augustus. (Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen viaWikimedia Commons,CC BY 2.5)
Agrippa built his Pantheon on the site of the present-day building.
The wordpantheonderives from the Greek meaning all gods.
Thisfirst Pantheonburnt down in 80 CE, and a second building likewise met its demise in 110 CE.
Sketch of the Pantheon in the 15th century, with only the single medieval bell tower. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
(Fire was a frequent hazard in the ancient world.)
Despite the confusing inscription, the present building actually dates to the reign of Hadrian.
The Pantheon survived the Dark Agesbarely.
A reconstruction of the Pantheon (above) and the building around 1700 (below). Engraving by Jan Goeree, before 1704. (Photo:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public domain)
Sketch of the Pantheon in the 15th century, with only the single medieval bell tower.
In 476, the last true western emperor’s rule ended.
Justinian established the Duchy of Rome within Byzantine-controlled Italy.
Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons,CC BY-SA 2.0)
However, the building was not immune to the plundering and disintegration which plagued the ancient buildings of Rome.
The original marble facing of the building was likewise often pillaged.
Several bell towers once existed.
A cut-away view of the Pantheon, by an anonymous artist in 1553. (Photo:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public domain)
A reconstruction of the Pantheon (above) and the building around 1700 (below).
Engraving by Jan Goeree, before 1704.
The 17th-century Pope Urban VIII removed the medieval addition to replace it withtwo new bell towers.
Left: The grave of Raphael and Maria Bibbiena. (Photo: Ricardo André Frantz viaWikimedia Commons,CC BY-SA 3.0)Right: Self-portrait by Raphael, circa 1504-1506. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
These were apparently quite unpopular additions that the public mocked as donkey ears upon the classical facade.
The two bell towers would eventually be removed by Pius IX in the 19th century.
The pope once used the bronze decorations to make canons.
The altar in the Pantheon. (Photo: Bengt Nyman viaWikimedia Commons,CC BY 2.0)
Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome.
The Pope stripped the bronze decorations from the portico in 1626.
These weremelted and usedto create 80 canons for the Castel Sant’Angelo.
Piazza della Rotonda, seen with the Pantheon and obelisk. By Giovanni Battista Piranesi, circa 1751. (Photo:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public domain)
The Castel Sant’Angelo is another classical building, dating from the 2nd century.
The design of the Pantheon was groundbreaking and set the tone for buildings to come.
A cut-away view of the Pantheon, by an anonymous artist in 1553.
Photo:Stock Photosfrom HERACLES KRITIKOS/Shutterstock
Featuring a coffered design, the dome is amarvel of ancient engineering.
Measuring about 143 feet in both diameter and height, the structure would perfectlycontain a 143-feet-in-diameter sphere.
The Pantheon dome is famous for its central featurean opening of roughly 20 feet in diameter.
Renaissance artist Raphael is buried in the Pantheon.
Left: The grave of Raphael and Maria Bibbiena.
The brilliant young artist passed away at 37 in 1520.
A darling of the ecclesiastical art patrons, he was interred with great ceremony in the Pantheon.
He shares his tomb with his fiancee Maria Bibbiena.
The Pantheon is still an active Catholic church.
The altar in the Pantheon.
It is a Catholic Basilica and mass is celebrated on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
OnPentecost, for example, red rose petals are strewn from on high within the church’s rotunda.
The Piazza della Rotonda, on which the Pantheon sits, features an Egyptian obelisk.
Piazza della Rotonda, seen with the Pantheon and obelisk.
By Giovanni Battista Piranesi, circa 1751.
In the 16th century, a central stone fountain was added.
The ancient red marble obelisk was brought to Rome in antiquity and rediscovered in the medieval period.
All over Rome, ancient materials were often reused in medieval and early modern building projects.
